Integrated Microfossil Biostratigraphy, Facies Distribution and Depositional Sequences of the Upper Turonian to Campanian Succes
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1 Integrated microfossil biostratigraphy, facies distribution and depositional sequences of the 2 upper Turonian to Campanian succession in northeast Egypt and Jordan 3 Sherif Farouk*, Fayez Ahmad, John H. Powell, Akmal M. Marzouk 4 5 Sherif Farouk* 6 Exploration Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Nasr City, 11727, Egypt 7 e-mail: [email protected] 8 Fayez Ahmad 9 Earth and Environmental sciences Department, Hashemite University, Jordan 10 John H. Powell 11 British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK 12 Akmal M. Marzouk 13 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt 14 15 Abstract Six upper Turonian to Campanian sections in Egypt (Sinai) and Jordan were 16 studied for their microfossil biostratigraphy (calcareous nannofossils and planktonic 17 foraminifera), facies distribution and sequence stratigraphic frameworks. Carbonate (mostly 18 chalk) and chert lithofacies dominate the basinward northern sections passing laterally and 19 vertically to mixed carbonate/siliciclastic lithofacies towards the shoreline in the southeast. 20 Twenty-six lithofacies types have been identified and grouped into six lithofacies associations: 21 littoral siliciclastic facies belt; peritidal carbonate; intertidal carbonate platform/ramp; high- 22 energy ooidal shoals and shelly biostromes; shallow subtidal; and pelagic facies association. The 23 following calcareous nannofossil biozones were recognized: Luianorhabdus malefomis (CC12) 24 (late Turonian), Micula staurophora (CC14) (early Coniacian), Reinhardtites anthophorus 25 ( CC15) (late Coniacian), Lucianorhabdus cayeuxii (CC16) (early Santonian) and Broinsonia 1 1 parca parca (CC18) (Campanian). Equivalent planktonic foraminifera zones recognized are: 2 Dicarinella concavata (Coniacian), the lower most part of D. asymetrica (earliest Santonian) and 3 Globotruncanita elevata (early Campanian). The integrated zonation presented here is 4 considered to provide higher resolution than the use of either group alone. The absence of 5 calcareous nannofossil biozones CC13 and CC17 in most of the studied sections, associated with 6 regional vertical lithofacies changes, indicates that recognition of the Turonian/Coniacian and 7 Santonian/Campanian stage boundary intervals in the region have been hampered by 8 depositional hiatuses at major sequence boundaries resulting in incomplete sections. These 9 disconformities are attributed to eustatic sea-level fluctuations and regional tectonics resulting 10 from flexuring of the Syrian Arc fold belt. The Coniacian to Santonian succession can be divided 11 into three third-order depositional sequences which are bounded by four widely recognized 12 sequence boundaries. 13 Keywords: Planktonic biostratigraphy, late Turonian, Coniacian, Santonian, Campanian, 14 sequence stratigraphy, Arabian platform, Jordan, Egypt. 15 16 Introduction 17 Upper Cretaceous successions are widely distributed and well-exposed in north Egypt (Sinai) 18 Jordan, Israel and the Levant, an area that formed the northeastern part of the Arabian Platform. 19 These successions are characterized by marked lateral and vertical changes in lithofacies 20 resulting from the interplay of eustatic sea-level fluctuations and the influence of regional intra- 21 plate tectonics (Krenkel 1924; Reiss et al. 1985; Gvirtzman et al. 1985; Powell 1989; Lüning et 22 al. 1998a-b; Soudry et al. 2006). Biostratigraphical analyses of the Turonian/Coniacian, 23 Coniacian/Santonian and Santonian/Campanian stage boundary successions in the region have 2 1 been hampered by periods of depositional hiatus resulting in incomplete sections and/or 2 hardgrounds (e.g. Lewy 1990; Gruszczynski et al. 2002; Powell and Moh’d 2012; Farouk and 3 Faris 2012; Meilijson 2014). 4 Numerous studies have been published on the facies analysis and reconstruction of 5 depositional environments of the Coniacian to Campanian successions (e.g. Koch 1968; Lewy 6 1990; Almogi-Labin et al. 1993; Kuss 1986; Powell 1988, 1989; Cherif and Ismail 1991; Kora 7 and Genedi 1995; Lüning et al. 1998a-b; Moh’d 2000; Mustafa 2000; Mustafa et al. 2002; Kuss 8 et al. 2000; Bauer et al. 2002, 2003; Abdel-Gawad et al. 2004; El-Azabi and El-Araby 2007; 9 Shahin and Kora 1991; Issawi et al. 2009; Powell and Moh`d 2011, 2012; Ismail 2012; Makhlouf 10 et al. 2015 and Farouk 2015). The precise correlation of the upper Turonian to Campanian 11 successions in Egypt, Jordan and Israel on a regional scale, based upon integrated litho- and 12 biostratigraphy, and the distribution of lithofacies tracts has, to date, been uncertain. 13 Furthermore, comparison and correlation of the sequences in this region to global (eustatic) sea- 14 level events (Haq, 2014) is controversial as a result of regional (eurybatic) fluctuations on the 15 Arabian Platform that were influenced by Late Cretaceous tectonic deformation of the Syrian 16 Arc (Krenkel 1924; Soudry et al. 1985; Flexer et al. 1986; Shahar 1994; Lüning et al. 1998; 17 Meilijson et al. 2014). 18 Regional correlation of sequence boundaries based upon biostratigraphy provides important 19 information on relative sea-level fluctuations on the southern margin of Neo-Tethys. These data 20 help to elucidate the effect of local tectonics on the development of depositional sequences that 21 can be more widely correlated with the global cycle charts (Hardenbol et al. 1998; Stampfli and 22 Borel 2002; Haq and Al-Qahtani 2005; Haq 2014). 3 1 The aims of this paper are to: (1) determine the lithofacies characteristics and biostratigraphic 2 framework of the upper Turonian to Campanian sequences and their palaeoenvironments, (2) 3 establish a standard sequence stratigraphic scheme, and compare its depositional sequences and 4 boundaries with those previously published, (3) re-evaluate the nature, extent and hiatus of the 5 recorded sequence boundaries, (4) improve correlation with sequence boundaries recognized 6 elsewhere in North Africa, the Arabian Platform, Europe, and with global records, (5) constrain 7 better the timing of sea-level variations, and (6) reconstruct, precisely, the depositional history in 8 the region during late Turonian to Santonian time. 9 Geological setting 10 In Mesozoic times, Egypt, Jordan and Israel were situated at the southern margin of the Neo- 11 Tethys Ocean (Stampfli and Borel 2002; Ahmad et al. 2014; Meilijson et al. 2014). Many 12 dramatic lateral and vertical lithofacies changes are observed during the convergence of the 13 African-Arabian Craton (closure of Neo-Tethys) that resulted in the variable development of 14 basins and swells in the region in response to the major intra-plate tectonic pulse of the ‘Syrian 15 Arc’ fold belt (Krenkel 1924; Bowen and Jux 1987; Shahar 1994). At the end of the Turonian, a 16 phase of non-deposition or local uplift and erosion, respectively, lasted until the early Coniacian 17 (Flexer et al. 1986; Gvirtzman et al. 1989; Powell 1989; Powell and Moh’d 2011). This event is 18 attributed to tectonic (intra-plate) foundering, subsidence and tilting of the platform margin, 19 possibly linked to ophiolite obduction in northeast Arabia (Haq and Al-Qahtani 2005), and is 20 also associated with extensional rifting in the Azraq Basin (Powell and Moh’d 2011). During the 21 Coniacian a global sea-level rise (Haq 2014) resulted in marine transgression (marine flooding) 22 across the pre-existing, rimmed carbonate platform. Transgressive marine flooding was 23 characterized by chalk sedimentation with regressive events characterized by a marl-chert- 4 1 phosphorite association; these lithofacies associations passed shorewards (southeast) to shallow 2 marine carbonates/siliciclastics in Jordan and Egypt (Powell and Moh’d 2011). 3 Regional variations in the lithofacies and associated fauna and nannoflora are observed 4 during Coniacian-Santonian time, ranging from predominantly carbonate ramp lithofacies in 5 basinward settings towards the north and northwest (Wadi Umm Ghudran and Themed 6 formations), to mixed shallow-water clastic/carbonate facies (Alia and Matulla formations) 7 towards the southeast and south, depending on their relative palaeogeographic and tectonic 8 setting. The Campanian (and Maastrichtian) sea in this region was characterized by a high 9 concentration of organic material deposited in a broad, shallow-water zone locally associated 10 with oyster bioherms, which led to the accumulation of economic phosphate deposits in Jordan 11 (Powell 1989). Elevated levels of organic matter and the deposition of phosphate and organic- 12 rich carbonates (Abed et al. 2005) at discrete levels within this succession was the result of high 13 oceanic bio-productivity and upwelling of nutrients at the shelf margin (Almogi-Labin et al. 14 1993; Soudry et al. 2006; Abed et al 2007; Powell and Moh’d 2011; Meilijson et al. 2014). In 15 contrast, the observed basinal facies in north Egypt are represented by hemiplegic facies of the 16 Sudr Chalk Formation in north Eastern Desert/Sinai and the equivalent Khoman Chalk 17 Formation in the Western Desert. These hemipelagic chalk facies pass laterally to mixed 18 siliciclastic/carbonate lithofacies of the Dakhla Formation, which was deposited close to the 19 shoreline in central and southern Egypt. 20 Material and Methods 21 Lithostratigraphical, biostratigraphical and sedimentological investigations were carried out on 22 six exposed sections in north eastern Egypt and Jordan (Fig. 1); a total of 227 samples were 5 1 collected. The sections, measured and sampled bed-by-bed, are located